The Analysis Of Esch’s Trauma And Growth In Salvage The Bones

Jesmyn Ward(1977-)is an African American female writer who has won the National Book Award twice and is widely acclaimed as one of the most important writers in contemporary America.Salvage the Bones(2011)is her second novel.It won her the National Book Award in 2011 and the Alex Award in the next year.The novel is set in the background of Hurricane Katrina that is one of the worst natural disasters in American history and tells the story of a fifteen-year-old black girl,Esch Batiste,who is living in an impoverished town of American south.It describes the twelve days’ experience of her family before and after Hurricane Katrina and reveals the present living conditions of African Americans.The novel is favorable accepted by the public as well as the critics.Trauma is a prominent theme in Salvage the Bones and it is also a proper perspective to probe into the growth and psychological changes of the protagonist.With the help of trauma theory,this thesis attempts to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the traumatic representations of the protagonist Esch,dig out the root causes of her trauma,explore the healing ways and clarify the significance of her efforts of walking out of the trauma and growing to maturity,in order to provide effective perspectives and references for understanding the novel and the social problems touched upon in the work.The thesis consists of six parts,which are Introduction,four chapters and Conclusion.Introduction is mainly about the life story and literary achievements of Jesmyn Ward and literature review of Salvage the Bones.The first chapter introduces the origin and the development of trauma theory.Sigmund Freud’s studies on trauma have exerted a great influence on the formation and development of later psychological trauma theory and even functions as the basis of modern trauma theory.Ever since then,the traumatic research has developed rapidly and gradually formed a systematic and theoretical system in the 1980 s andmade significant progress in medicine,psychology and the interdisciplinary fields of social culture,history,literature and so on.The second chapter mainly analyzes the traumatic presentations of Esch.Esch shows obvious traumatic symptoms in Salvage the Bones: the first is the loss of empowerment.She lacks sufficient sense of belonging and value,and has always been in passive position in her interactions with others,especially men;the second symptom is intrusive memory.After her mother’s death,various flashbacks about Mother have always invaded Esch’s memories inadvertently and she even has hallucinations from time to time,which has greatly disturbed her normal life;finally,the sudden pregnancy has overwhelmed her in a great panic and helplessness,exacerbating her trauma and hindering her healthy growth.The third chapter digs out the traumatic causes of Esch in detail.The death of her mother has deprived her of sense of security,spiritual support as well as the guide in the process of growth;the poor economic condition of her family,the harsh social environment,and the unexpected pregnancy make her suffer from life dilemmas;the upcoming natural disaster,Hurricane Katrina,poses a direct survival threat to her and her family.The fourth chapter explores the healing of Esch’s psychological trauma and the realization of her growth.Lack of female companions and instructions,Esch reconstructs herself by learning from her positive guide,China,a bitch raised by her elder brother Skeetah,whose fighting spirits,maternal responsibilities and intimate relationships with Skeetah,functions as a reference system for Esch to change her cognition that women are weak and inferior and help her to realize the truth of love;furthermore,Esch finally tells the story of her mother and her pregnancy to her family,which relieves her sorrow and pain to a certain extent;finally,under the love and support of her family,she decides to become a mother and the unborn child is no longer a burden for her but a motive power and a new hope for the future.Conclusion points out that Salvage the Bones is a novel about trauma and female growth.The healing process of Esch’s psychological trauma also displays her growth.The process is of great social and practical significance.Esch’s efforts of becoming an independent and powerful mother from a helpless and confused girl,havechallenged the stereotyped images for black women and black people.Salvage the Bones has exposed to the psychological traumas that African Americans have still been suffering from,which has not only exhibited the living conditions of poor black people living in American south,but also impelled people to think about gender and race discrimination and injustices that have widely existed in the world.